I picked up a used D800 with a knockoff battery grip. Amazingly similar to a real one. I have been having some strange issues with the camera. I can't go into live view without freezing the camera, unless a battery is in the camera body. Other strange things have been happening. I had the firm ware updated to the latest version by Nikon at the Belmont. Anyone else having the same problems?

It's a hit or miss with 3rd party battery grips. I never had any problems when I used them for my D90, D7000 and D300. I'm now using an OEM battery grip for my D800E and I know a 3rd party grip will work just as good.

We had a Vello grip for our D7000 and were pretty happy with it. But for our D800E, we had originally purchased a Promaster grip and only after a few days of use, we started occasionally having a similar issue to what this guy is showing:

And I am guessing he was using a 3rd party grip too.

The issue never seemed to occur when we did not use the grip. So we just returned Promaster and got the OEM MB-D12 instead. Have been using it ever since and never ever had the problem again.

So, yes, as others have indicated, I think buying a 3rd party grip, particularly for D800/E would be hit or miss.

I have always used Nikons grips, NEVER a problem.... Never.... With my recent D800E, it was a bundle and it came with a Vello grip... the D800E after shooting for a little bit will act weird, won't access the internal battery on the D800E and a few other things. If I swap it out with the Nikon battery grip from my D800 the D800E runs perfectly with no issues. I stopped using the Vello grip, I suppose I should sell it because there seems to be tons of people here on FM that love those knock-off grips... but me... no thank you. While yes, the Nikon grip is a lot more expensive, it's worth it as it works flawlessly...

Never understood why some pay $3K for a body then go cheap on the grip. WAY too many horror stories involving non OEM grips to make me ever consider one. Yes, Nikon grossly overcharges for them BUT, I never heard of theirs damaging a camera body. Same issue with non OEM batteries.

I've used 3rd party accessories all the time with no issues at all. As for the logic of paying premium for a body and cheap out on accessories, I'd have to disagree with you guys. I would pay premium when I see a difference in performance and only if I am guaranteed that the OEM would not fail on me, and that's not the case since performance is identical and I've had OEM equipment fail on me & others before. For example, I bought my D800 for $1900 and the Nikon accessories I need are priced as follows:

This is almost as much as I paid for the body and I'd rather invest in a lens or even better travel with the price difference Now if I were a professional and this was my source of income then maybe it would be a different scenario and I would agree with you.